Dan Burn has offered a fresh perspective on Anthony Gordon’s red card against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday that will most likely see him miss out on the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool next week.
The Newcastle United winger was shown a straight red card following a coming together with Jan Paul van Hecke in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at St James' Park, with Gordon striking the Dutchman in the face. Assuming the Magpies don’t lodge a successful complaint - an outcome which seems unlikely - Gordon will miss the next three games, including the clash with Liverpool at Wembley.
Paul Robinson claimed the decision was ‘stupid’, Roy Keane labeled it ‘daft’ and Eddie Howe said post-match that he hadn’t reviewed the incident yet, but added there was no ‘intention to do any harm’. Now one of Newcastle’s players has spoken out on the incident and claimed he was surprised to see his team-mate dismissed.
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“I haven’t spoken to Anthony yet. I haven’t even watched it back, to be honest,” said Burn, as per the Northern Echo. “But when I first saw it, I was surprised the red card came out.
“He’s going to be disappointed, isn’t he? I really don’t think there was any sort of intent there, he’s not that type of player. It’s just a real shame for him.”
Reports have since emerged that Newcastle will consider appealing the red card, with Gordon a vital player for the Magpies who are enduring a difficult run of form. Howe’s side have lost five of the last nine and, after winning nine in a row around the turn of the year, their progress has stalled recently.
“I think we’re still inconsistent at the moment,” Burn admitted. “We’re still yet to put together a real, full performance at the levels we’re capable of. That’s obviously bad, but you can look at it as more of a positive that we’re still in a good position in the league, even though I don’t really think we’ve hit the levels that we know that we can.
“We’re still in a good position going into the business end of the season. As inconsistent as we’ve been this season, we’re still in a good position for what we want to achieve.
“We just need to put another run together like the one we had over Christmas to cement that position in the league. Then we’ve obviously got the final just around the corner too, which is a massive opportunity. As inconsistent as we have been, we know that if we can just get that together and click, we can be a really good team.”
